Rhetorical Analysis of Project 3

In this blog post, I will analyze the rhetorical situation for Project 3.

Author. How will you draw on any or some of the following for Project 3? Be specific about how your plans for Project 3 connect to some previous, current or burgeoning interest of your own, such as... your own general research interests. I am expressly interested in comic book and the world that it offers, and how comics can be used to address issues that society is currently facing. Also, I just find them extremely entertaining in their own right. your major(s) and/or minor(s) here at the University of Arizona. I am a Theatre Arts major here at the University of Arizona. other subjects of interest you have encountered here or elsewhere in your recent studies. I have decided to run with a personal hobby of mine rather than focus on any sort of specific, major focus. your academic and/or professional goals. My goals are to go in and pursue a career in theatre or acting or performing in any possible way, no matter the circumstance. current-day social, cultural or political issues that you follow and are interested in. I am currently following the current election very closely. I am very interested in the potential voter fraud in Arizona that won Hillary the election, and on the hatred within the Donald Trump campaign. civic, financial, governmental, economic, and/or judicial practices that you follow and are interested in. Very interested in the college debt problem, and the solution that Bernie Sanders offers to make public universities tuition free, and the reaction that the public has to this idea. scientific and/or technological advances or news stories that you follow and and are interested in. I am not interested in science or recent technological advances enough to be able to take a hard stance on for a public argument. subjects of personal interest or study, for instance: hobbies such as hiking & climbing, gaming/programming, following sports or movies or music, etc. I have decided to focus this project on my hobbies, specifically my interest with comic books. skills you have committed yourself to acquiring like dedication to a sport, an instrument, a practice such as yoga or meditation, etc. I have committed myself to the craft of theatre, and working within the field of theatre in as many different parts of possible. subjects you’ve read about previously in science or history or literature, etc. I spent quite a bit of reading last semester regarding genetic engineering, and the possibilities of what that means to the society if it were to be fully embraced, specifically within the science fiction genre. subjects connected to your life experiences, places you’ve traveled to, ideologies or philosophies you’ve encountered directly, unique experiences you’ve had. I have learned a lot in this semester's philosophy class, where I have been learning about a variety of different individual philosophies and how philosophy applies to the society.        2.     What are the preconceptions, previously held opinions and/or potential areas for                personal bias that you should be aware of for Project 3? What about any of the                following?: Your family of origin, and the spoken or unspoken set(s) of “family values” that come with belonging to that family. My family is not at all religious or political, and the beliefs that I have come up with have been formed throughout my life without the input of my family. I have never consistently gone to any sort of church, have no desire to, and am very proud of my liberal beliefs but my family did not influence me too far in that direction other than encouraging tolerance of other people. The social class of yourself/your family (consider honestly your family’s level of access to wealth, real estate, travel, leisure, luxury items, etc.). My mother works at Walmart for a living and she is the only source of income as my father volunteers locally and my brother works to support himself. My access to these things is extremely limited. The location/geography where you were raised, and whatever local norms, customs, attitudes, traditions, and/or prejudices come with belonging or not belonging. I was born in The Hamptons and was surrounded by people who did not have to worry about money or any sort of monetary problems. If there was a prejudice against anyone it was against those who were unable to get money The religious and/or spiritual tradition you were raised in, and whatever beliefs, values, worldviews and/or prejudices come with belonging or not belonging. I was not raised in any religious tradition. The political beliefs of the family, community, area/region or state in which you were raised, and whatever attitudes, beliefs, traditions, values and/or prejudices come with belonging or not belonging. I was raised in New York and it is extremely a Democratic place, which may have helped contribute to my current political beliefs. Your level of access to cultural power, based on things like ethnicity/race, gender, sexual identity, age, level of education, differently-abledness, etc. I am a white, straight male at University. By this definition I would say that privilege is rather high. Unsure if this is the correct answer to the question.

Audience. Based on your plans for Project 3, answer the following… How are you thinking about your audience for this project? Who are you going to make this for? Describe them. I am making this for an audience that is not fully aware of comics other than what they are exposed to in popular culture. For example, they know that The Dark Knight is a good movie and Catwoman is a bad movie. However they may not be aware that in the comics there are 4 Robins and that the original and most notable Batgirl was shot and raped by the Joker. What beliefs and assumptions might this audience already hold? What position are they likely to take on this issue? How will you respond to that position? I believe that they may not be fully aware of the scope of the problem that I am going to describe. However I believe that they may respond mostly on my side, if there are any that disagree they will probably react protective of characters like Wonder Woman. How might they react to your argument? I believe that they will react for the most part shocked with the level of problems within the medium, and also may react protective and ignore the facts of what has occurred. How are you going to relate to or connect with your audience? Are there any specific words, ideas or ways of arguing that will help you relate to them in this way? I understand the position of those that disagree with the point that I am trying to make. Think of one specific person or a set of people you know personally or professionally who fall within the definition of ‘target audience’ you’re using for Project 3. What could you tell them or say to them in order to convince them of your perspective? What would need to happen for them to agree with you? I believe that most teenagers in today's society fall into the target audience of basic knowledge of comic books. I could bring specific instances with situations or characters they are familiar with. If I am able to show the plethora of sexism and racism as opposed to the amount of progressive instances they may come to see things from my point of view.

Purpose/Message. What do you want to accomplish with Project 3? What affect do you want it to have on your intended audience? For instance: What might you want your audience to do after reading/watching/listening to my project? I would want them to go back to the medium and look at all of the different publications from the comics themselves to the movies and note all of the instances in how women and minority characters are handled. What might you want your audience to consider after reading/watching/ listening to your project? I would want them to consider all of the negativity that comes with these moments and to consider them against the positives and decide for themselves. What might you want your audience to believe after reading/watching/ listening to your project? I want them to believe that the comic industry has a long way to go before women and minorities are truly accepted into the industry       2.    Once you’ve done all your research and figured out what you think about the              controversy you’ve chosen, what still needs to be accomplished? For instance: Is there anything that still needs to be explained or pointed out to the people talking about this issue? What is a solution to the problem for a main point. There are many who believe that what I am discussing is a problem, but talking about the problem is not solving the problem. Is there anything that the people arguing about this need to be reminded of or made aware of? Talking about problems is not fixing anything, change must take place. Are there any perspectives on the issue that still need to be expressed? I believe that the issue has been well discussed, but I think these two problems need to be condensed into one argument and a solution needs to be offered. Are there any persons who we still need to hear from? I believe those within the industry deserve a loud voice in this argument. Is there any information that we still need to gather? I believe that information on what has been done on a professional level needs to be combined with the opinions of the audience receiving the information.

Context. What are the particular circumstances surrounding this assignment?

What genre? What course genre will you be writing in for Project 3? I will be doing a video essay. What kinds of audience expectations come along with this genre, generally? People expect there to be instances of different forms of audio, videos, and pictures throughout the project. What is your history working in the genre you have selected for Project 3? I do not have any experience going into this project. Describe your comfort level and general feelings about the genre. How will they affect your work on Project 3? I am extremely uncomfortable going into this genre and am very nervous about how I am going to be able to pull off using this genre to effectively do what I need it do. What are the two most effective conventions in this genre, in your opinion? Why? Be specific. I believe that using actual video recording from another source while incorporating audio from something other than my own voice is going to be the most effective. They will be able to effectively engage the audience.

When? Are there any historical events that might impact how your audience perceives your argument or the kind of background information or evidence you need to include? For instance, does media reporting on any of the following involve your issue/subject for Project 3?: There are not historically significant events the influence comic books and the specific issue that I am trying to address. There is no governmental influence on this issue. The approval or rejections of laws and/or budgets by the Executive branch of the U.S. government. There is no governmental influence on this issue. Cabinet appointments and removals made by the Executive branch of the U.S. government. There is no governmental influence on this issue. The authorization or funding of military hostilities by the Executive branch of the U.S. government. There is no governmental influence on this issue. The writing of, discussion about and voting on laws and/or budgets in the Legislative branch of the U.S. government. There is no governmental influence on this issue. The explanations made for legal decisions in the Judicial branch of the U.S. government. There is no governmental influence on this issue.        2.    Who else is talking about this topic? Provide us with working hyperlinks to coverage of the controversy on FOUR different media outlets. Here is CNN, the Huffington Post, MSNBC, and the New York Times.        3.    What are the three or four major counter-arguments you’ll have to respond to, based upon what people are saying in the press/media? Be specific and cite your sources using working hyperlinks. CNN specifically spoke about controversial comics that have been published in recent history. They bring up a very interesting point when they mention Wonder Woman and Superman beginning a relationship, effectively ending the idea of Wonder Woman being a strong independent female. This is a strong point that I can go back to when in the process of the project. The Huffington Post brings up the differences in terms of ideologies between those that are at Fox News and Captain America and argues that politics should be kept out of comics, a counter-argument that I will have to counter back. MSNBC brings up an instance of comics being used to fight rape culture in India, which is a counter-argument that I am going to have to deal with as well. The New York Times makes the argument that race does not matter in comics as the message is universal despite the skin tone, another counter-argument that I am going to have to deal with.